A GREAT SEA MONSTER.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXVII, Issue 120, 23 May 1903, Page 2 (Supplement)

A GREAT SEA MONSTER.

NN AWESOME YARN.

New Yobk, March 24. I send you the following remarkable extract from an evening paper here. Ifc is typical of tho sort of information which amuses the American public, and sells the papers :— Marine naturalists and other scientists were thrown into a state of excitement to day over a report that a colossal marine monster, answering tbe description of three sea serpents rolled into one, bad been Been 900 miles from New York by Captain Heram K. Whiffin, of the clipper barque Thomas P. Simons, which arrived in Now York this morning from Antwerp.

About 5.30 on Friday morning, March 18, William Jelf, the look out on the fo'c'sle bead of the barque, was terrified by the sight of an euor mous monster that suddenly appeared on the crest of a huge wave, and seemed if ifc were about to seize the tiny oreffc in the two enormous claws which it stretched out threateningly towards the sailor.

He gave a second look to make sure that he was not dreaming, and tbe monster made a grab at him. Then Jelf ran off the fo'c'sle head and dashed into the galley, shrieking out, " Help, for mercy's sake ! The serpent has got me !" William Lee, the aged and hardened cook, was making the men's coffee, and the frightened sailor, in his excitement, bowled him over, in company with a copper kettle full of boiling water. What Lee said is omitted, but his shipmates say tbe old man beat all his past records in profanity. By this time tho hands who were sleeping in ths deckhouse had all turned out hurriedly to see what was up. " There it is !" Jelf suddenly exclaimed, pointing his finger; and sura enough, through the cold, grey morning mist the horrified men saw a great monster, with waving giant limbs, and a yawning chasm of a mouth, bearing down on them on the starboard bow. TEST FOR DREAMING. The cook and Jelf ran aft to the cabin, where the mate, Mr Bowen, was busily engaged stowing away spare spars in the second mate's berth. Breathless and excited, tbe men told their tale, and the offioer, although he ridiculed the idea, came on deck to see what it really was that had been sighted. By this time the monster seemed close by the ship.

Tho mate was staggered by the awesome sight, and said to the cook, 111 must be dreaming, Bill; please sock me hard."

The ancient " grub-spoiler" cheerfully responded to his superior's request, and gave him a blow in the ribs that drove the mate against the bulwarks and brought tears of anguish in his eyoa. When he bad regained his breath the mate said, " Thank you, Bill, I am not dreaming." Then he ran

into tbe house and asked Captain Whiffin to turn out.

The sea serpent, which was now quite close, seemed to change its shape every timo it rose on the waves, and a strong, strange odour filled the air so that many of tho men had to walk away holding bunches of oakum to their mouths and nostrils. The captain realised tbe danger of being swamped and ordered all hands on deck to put tho ship about. When the barquo was pu', oa the port tack the royala were set, and she scudded away, leaving the marine leviathan on her leo.

For some hours the monster was in sight, and, according to the captain, appeared to bemaking.desperafce tfibrts to orertakt? the vessel, but by degrees it was It-ffc far astern. The Thomas P. Simons has been besieged by reporters since, her arrival in Erie Bami, ami ail sorts of wild rumours have appeared.

The captain of one of the Atlantic liners stated to a press representative that what tho crow of the barque saw was probably the huge floating carcase of Jingo, which would be considerably swollen and look fmmeose oo top of a wave. The limbs and trunk of tbe dead animal would move erati2ally with the surging roll of the ocean.

Captain Whiffin was very glad when he reached New York safely. Likß all sailors, he was wery superstitious, and looked on the fact of their having mot this monster on a Friday and the thirteenth of the month as an evil omen.